HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

⬐ liminal

That's a very good speech. At this point can the Republican party be saved, though? He made the comparison to Krystallnacht, which is a stretch (and feels very wrong), but is relevant in that in both cases the authorities stood by and watched. That seems to be problem: the party, its beliefs and those within it are still held in esteem. Calling some unnamed people "spineless" isn't the full-throated denunciation of the ideology and all those affiliated that seems needed. All those Republican congresspeople voting against certifying the election indicates this anti-democratic ideology has taken strong root within the party -- has become the ideology of the party. The Republican party itself has become a threat to democracy. If they won both houses in the next election, would you trust them to certify the election of a Democrat president? I'm sure there are many reasonable Republicans on here, but can you still trust the party to represent those reasonable beliefs? I'm not suggesting all those people should suddenly become Democrats, just pointing out that I don't know that this is a problem that can be fixed without much more drastic changes.

⬐ benjohnson

The Democrats survived being the party of slavery, the Republicans will survive Trump.

⬐ voisin

Depends on whether they take Trump as a lesson and learn that lesson, or if they double down (for example, electing Cruz as their next candidate).

⬐ krapp

Unfortunately, none of Trump's political views are in any way outside of the mainstream for the Republican Party. Even most of the conspiracy theories he believes in are boilerplate Fox News/right-wing talk radio fare. If Trump had handled COVID better and not gone insane seeing leftist boogeymen everywhere, he might have won.

The Republicans will distance themselves from Trump because it's the most politically expedient thing to do, but if they've learned anything, its how potent Trumpism can be, and that they just need a more competent demagogue to harness it next time.

⬐ liminal

You're probably right, but it seems like a shame. I think there's enough difference between the far right, center-right, center-left and far left for more than two parties. This seems like a wonderful moment to fully repudiate the awful aspects of far-right Republicanism.

⬐ kevin_thibedeau

This is exactly how the brown shirts got started so it isn't much of a stretch. Captain orange is going to keep this game up for the next few years until the dementia takes him out. He can still do more damage.

⬐ cs702

Wow, this is a powerful, emotional message from Arnold, in which he, among other things, talks about the Nazi regime's impact on his father's life and on his childhood, dealing with the consequences, in Austria.

It's also the first time I've seen a prominent Republican politician explicitly compare the recent storming of the US Capitol to Kristallnacht[a], and the actions of the current president with the actions of the rising regime in Germany in the late 1930's, leading to WWII.

It's only 7+ minutes long. Watch it.

[a] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht -- Arnold also alludes to but doesn't explicitly mention earlier events in the 1930's, such as the Reichstag fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

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PS. Normally I would flag messages by politicians without a second thought, but I think this one deserves to be on HN given its personal nature, its historical context, and the unprecedented circumstances.

⬐ ketanmaheshwari

Great speech but the background score was unnecessary and bit too dramatic.

⬐ jhayward

You might consider that the staging, framing, and scoring is all very deliberate and designed to appeal to a certain demographic. The kind that might be influenced by lots of flags, badges, sword imagery, and serious, somber GOP officials talking to them about change and redemption.

⬐ playingchanges

Excellent speech love Arnold, loved the sword cameo.

⬐ someone7x

The days have gone down in west, beyond the hills and into shadow.

How did it come this?

⬐ jfengel

Step by step.

⬐ shrimp_emoji

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" comes to mind.

The Capitol break-in was nothing compared to the degradation from loss of confidence in our institutions, and the thing that can cause that is the overdramatization present on both sides and in your comment.

⬐ compsciphd

something that needed to be said, the only nit I have is the direct comparison between kristalnacht and the capitol riot. I would have preferred it be viewed as worried that this could be a precursor to the us's own kristalnacht, instead of it being the same as is.

⬐ 37ef_ced3

Arnold lifts the Conan The Barbarian sword up and uses it as an analogy... it is good

⬐ gthtjtkt

It's pretty disrespectful to compare the Capitol protest to a religiously-motivated massacre that killed 90 people and destroyed 250+ synagogues. There's literally no parallel between the two events.

If I wanted to hear someone call Republicans Nazis for 8 minutes I could just turn on CNN or MSNBC.

⬐ gthtjtkt

If I wanted to hear someone call Republicans Nazis for 8 minutes I could just turn on CNN or MSNBC.

⬐ gthtjtkt

Here's a little summary of Kristallnacht for anyone who thinks the Capitol protest was comparable:

> Rioters destroyed 267 synagogues throughout Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland. Over 7,000 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed, and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.

> Estimates of fatalities caused by the attacks have varied. Early reports estimated that 91 Jews had been murdered. Modern analysis of German scholarly sources puts the figure much higher

This is exactly the type of hyperbolic rhetoric that only enflames political tension.

Also, don't forget that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were cheering on the BLM rioters who killed 30 people and caused $2 billion in property damage.

⬐ lttlrck

The difference between this and BLM is intent.

⬐ disposekinetics

I don't think any sane person cares about the intent of the person carrying out assault against their person, and it would be unreasonable to ask them to divine intent. Supporting one and condemning the other reeks of special pleading.

⬐ kevin_thibedeau

BLM is fighting for rights every person should have. These people are just delusional sore losers. Stop trying to equate them.

⬐ hfhfh3412kd

I think it's fair to equate the actions of any and all groups, those actions covering murder and sysmetiatic intimidation through violence at least. You don't get to dismiss violence simply because you have sympathies with a particular cause.

I condemn all extremist violence and rehtoric. I have no sympathies with supporters of Trump, let alone the subset of his base living inside a Q fantasy. However, I feel I'm going insane seeing the differing standards applied to groups based on political party association.

But have at it, you deserve everything you get. Continue to call your opponents Hitler and Nazis while condeming dark and inciting language. Continue to support domestic terrorism from some groups while wretching at the sight of it from others. It's your society, destroy it in whichever fashion you feel gratifying in the moment. Dehumanise at will.

⬐ disposekinetics

Is "It is ok when the people doing it share goals with me" the rule you want to universalize?

⬐ itronitron

My prediction for 2021 is that by the end of January it won't be safe for people to have Trump stickers on their vehicles.

⬐ oliwarner

Safe? From what?

The current social media purge is against people calling for violent acts. That's somewhat different to calling for reciprocal violence.

You tell me you're a Trumper, I'm probably going to judge you a bit, but I think you have a poor measure of people if you think there's going to be a purge based on the idea of agreeing with Trump.

⬐ zozbot234

> Safe? From what?

Ridicule, for one thing. A very prominent Republican leader has quite literally called President Trump "the Worst President Ever". I wouldn't be surprised if many others in the party were to follow suit with this assessment.

⬐ oliwarner

Safe from an opinion? And they call us snowflakes.

If you want to broadcast your politics, expect somebody to broadcast their disagreement.

⬐ drcongo

Surely these people have been the subject of ridicule for over 4 years now? They certainly have from the rest of the world.

⬐ krapp

Yes God forbid the people who spent the last four years raging against the rest of the country and telling everyone how disgusted they were with liberals and progressives and Democrats and city-dwellers and how they wanted to burn the system down, dance on the ashes and drink our bitter cuck tears and then who stormed the Capitol, planted pipe bombs, likely planned to take hostages, defecated and urinated in people's offices and who beat a police officer to death while intending to overturn an election at the behest of the sociopathic President half of them elected twice purely out of spite... suffer ridicule.

What kind of monsters will we have become to make fun of these poor broken fragile snowflakes? Will no one think of the traitors?

⬐ FullMetalBitch

Great speech, I love Arnold and respect him but old tweets are relevant.

⬐ drcongo

Says man who has said nothing for 4 years.

⬐ wdr1

If that's what you believe, then you simply haven't been paying attention.

Arnold has been pretty consistent & vocal.

⬐ deathlight

And from the very beginning. Donald and Arnold traded barbs over the Apprentice's dwindling viewers following the show's handover.

⬐ doe88

Are you kidding?!! He is at least very active against gerrymandering [1].

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/arnold-...

⬐ drcongo

I stand corrected.

⬐ CapitalistCartr

He says what every Republican leader ought to be saying, loudly and publicly.

⬐ cheaprentalyeti

I'm glad y'all found a Republican that can condemn the Reichtag Fire strongly and unequivocally in the original Austrian.